Mauricio Pochettino said Conor Gallagher's winning goal is “invaluable” for Chelsea after his two goals helped them win 3-1 at Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Monday night.
Chelsea went into half-time trailing 1-0 after Jefferson Lerma's first-half wonder goal, but Gallagher scored just a minute into the second half and then scored the winner in the 91st minute to break the lead. Palace determination. Enzo Fernández added the third in the 94th minute of the game and Chelsea left Selhurst Park with three points.
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Gallagher's first saw him finish a Malo Gusto cross well, while in the second he scored perfectly from the edge of the area to give Chelsea the victory.
“I think he is a player with a great commitment to the team, who always tries to compensate for every situation,” Pochettino said of Gallagher. “It's priceless to have a player like him. I'm very happy for him because it's a victory we needed.”
Gallagher was linked with a move away from Chelsea in the January transfer window but stayed put. With his contract expiring at the end of next season, Gallagher's long-term future is uncertain, but Pochettino says Gallagher never considered leaving the club last month.
“He always decided, what he told me was that he wanted to stay at Chelsea,” Pochettino said. “But it's about him and the club. I'm not [worried about] this kind of thing, he has one more year left on his contract. But that is a matter for him and the club.”
Pochettino said the club would assess the severity of Thiago Silva's groin injury on Tuesday after he was forced off after 61 minutes, and said Malo Gusto was fatigued rather than injured later.
Pochettino's team came into this match in an irregular manner. In their previous three games, they lost in the Premier League to Liverpool and Wolves, but in their last game they achieved an impressive 3-1 victory at Aston Villa in the FA Cup. The challenge on this trip to Selhurst Park was to play like they did against Villa, and not like they did in their last two Premier League games.
Chelsea dominated possession in the first half but only managed one shot wide, but then found a clinical lead in the second half once Pochettino moved two forward with Christopher Nkunku coming on at the break for Noni Madueke.
From there they put together their winning performance, playing with the same intensity as against Villa. The challenge for Chelsea is to continue looking for a 90-minute performance. “That's the consistency we need to change,” Pochettino said.
“We need to start the game in a different way, we need to try to be consistent in playing and always acting like we did against Aston Villa. It's not easy, but that's the challenge. We needed the three points and me.” I'm very happy.”
Chelsea will now travel to Manchester City on Sunday and then play in the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool on February 25.
On the other hand, the defeat left Hodgson depressed. Crystal Palace are 15th in the league, five points clear of the relegation zone, and have stars Eberechi Eze, Marc Guehi and Michael Olise sidelined.
“I'm really not in the mood if I'm being brutally honest.” [talking about] positive things and trying to find things to say that would cheer me up, because I don't know what you could say that would cheer me up,” Hodgson said after the game.
“What can I say that will encourage the players? I could say, well, with the players we have coming back and these guys doing so well, it bodes well for the future with the 14 games we have left.
“But of course we still don't know when Olise and Eze will return, so we may have to fight like we did tonight for a few more games before we can see a team that will threaten the opponent a little more” . than what we did today.”
But despite their poor run of form, Hodgson is convinced the team will survive the drop and January signing Adam Wharton impressed on Monday. Next up is a key game at Everton and then they will play at home against Burnley. “It's a bad period but it's been caused by the injury situation,” Hodgson said. “There are 14 games [left]many games and many points and I think we have shown enough.
“So I don't have any worries, but there is no complacency and the points are very necessary to move us away from the relegation zone. This group of players is good enough and tonight gave me even more faith and belief.”
